For their role in moulding outstanding women of Jamaica, special respect was paid to the nuns who have helped strengthen the prestige of local Catholic schools at a Catholic Schools Ministry Appreciation Luncheon for Unsung Heroines: Religious Sisters of the Archdiocese of Kingston, held at Spanish Court Hotel in St Andrew on Sunday.

Collena Doctor, who is part of the Holy Childhood Alumnae Association, told The Gleaner that spending years among the sisters brought her very close to Christ and kept her from getting into trouble as a product of the inner city.

"Holy Childhood was key in me becoming a Christian. I grew up in a single-parent tenement yard with lots of expletives and fighting every day. For me, going to Holy Childhood was like a getaway. As I entered the gates, there was just peace, and I didn't want to leave. Going to Mass, I learned the importance of praying and having God in my life," she said.

"As a young woman, by the time you are of age, you have all different kinds of men who lurk. The virtue, worth and standard I was taught have made me classy. My mother had to work 12 and more hours a day, so I didn't have that kind of relationship with somebody who could encourage me. Holy Childhood helped to soften me down and smooth off my edges, even though my mother did a good job, but it was tough love."